Sunday, July 29, 2012

When the stars align correctly, be sure to take full advantage. Client Bumstead's Bicycles sponsored a community BMX racing team for several years. One of their riders was destined for the top ranks of BMX racing, with national championships, sponsors, and branded frames in his future.

Then, in a man bites dog story, Danny C ends up racing in the 2012 Olympics for the Philippine's team. Bumsteads, who has already used their notoriety as the oldest bike shop in America for events and press, now had a chance to honor their friend and ex-team mate with a PR blitz.

We created a video with Bumstead's Owner, Lloyd Bumstead, as spokesman, and a press release on PRLog.org. The video is embedded in the Press Release. You can also enjoy the video below.

Blogging, almost from the day it hit the internet, has been an important way to get visitors and visibility on search. Today there are millions of blogs and because their content tends to be unique, current, relevant, and useful, Google pays attention. (Not to say that the Panda bot isn't looking really hard at blogs who are nothing but spam).

Assuming you have a legitimate blog and you are looking to generate visitors, one way to help that process is with PR. You can aim your PR at the entire blog, or you can try to generate more views of a specific post.

Last week I decided to start a series of posts called 101 Marketing Secrets from a Serial Entrepreneur. Since I was going to be doing at least 101 posts about this subject, I really wanted to start getting a following. That would mean I would need to get some backlinks for the campaign, but also get lots of views who might pass it along. So while Twitter, FB, Google+ and YouTube will eventually all be part of the strategy, I knew I could get a few hundred folks to take a look using PRLog.org. I posted this headline Business Author Randy Kirk on 101 Marketing Secrets from a Serial Entrepraneur, and, sure enough, had 85 views within 10 hours (and counting).

As I roll out the 101 Marketing Secrets, I could literally do 101 Press Releases, as each would have a different topic, thus headline. Imagine how you might use a similar approach for an area of expertise that you might want to build your reputation around.

Watch this spot for more ideas on the subject. Send me your own thoughts in the comments or by email. If you would like us to help you put together a similar campaign, call me at 310.910.1848.

PrLog.org added the ability to provide a link in their press releases about a year ago. As a result, PRLog is a greaat place to promote a new video. You can use a transcript of the video as a portion of the PR material. But as always it is a good idea to quote the spokesperson or an expert to support the content.

In this case, the video is part of a groundbreaking series unlike anything offered to small business owners before. It is a thorough DIY explanation for how a small business owner can optimize his Google Places and Google+ Local visibility under the keywords they care about.

If you would like to read an example of a press release that promotes a YouTube video, check it out at
http://www.prlog.org/11930645-google-local-business-expert-explains-lasting-seo-for-small-business-in-new-video.html

Friday, July 20, 2012

What can steam room
owners do to make a more pleasant environment for their clients?

Steam rooms have been available at the best
gyms, spas, and hotels for decades. Steam rooms are now finding their way into smaller
facilities, and have even become affordable for homes.

Wherever
you have the kind of humid conditions that a steam room creates, and add a little human sweat, you
are creating the perfect environment for mold, mildew, and other nasty
microbes, and in turn you have bad odors. People who love to have a steam bath, and may be paying dues or rent to use one, don't love a musty,
smelly steam room.

If you ask the average
person what can be done about steam room odor, they usually have the
right answer, Eucalyptus Oil. In fact, most consumers of commercial
steam rooms are incredulous that the owners aren't using Eucalyptus Oil
to both solve the odor problem and provide the cleaning and healing
benefits of this essential oil.

It is amazing that hotels, spas, and
gyms that offer steam rooms are willing to risk unhappy customers who
may choose to go to some other facility where odor is not an issue in
the steam room. The cost per day is under $3. How can owners and
managers ignore such an obvious issue when the cost is so low? They
will spend thousands of dollars on the steam room and other equipment in
order to provide the best possible facility and not spend $3 a day to
keep the smell out?

Mystifier Automatic Eucalyptus Oil Injection System

One solution is an automatic eucalyptus oil injection system called the
Eurospa Mystifier. Using 100% pure oil, a blend of primarily eucalyptus
with other essential oils, the Mystifier is a pump that can be located
right next the steam generator line in the maintenance closet of the
steam room. The Mystifier's injector line is connected to the steam
generator line. Now the Mystifier injects the oil into the steam line
at a rate set by the steam room manager. Check out a video about the
system. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amtg5Ti1BNU

By
using an injection system like the Mystifier, the amount of eucalyptus
oil can be reduced to the minimum needed to get the cleansing, healthy,
and odor reducing benefits. Unlike using spray bottles or sponges, the
benefits are increased and the costs are decreased.

The
Mystifier Automatic Eucalyptus Oil Injection System has been used in top
hotels, gyms, and spas for over 30 years. Learn more at http://www.EurospaChemicals.com

Go to http://www.prlog.org/11930086-steam-room-odor-common-complaint-in-spas-gyms-hotels-and-massage-spas.html to read the entire release and see the difference of how I wrote this for PR compared to just an article or blog post.

Monday, July 16, 2012

If you are here because you are trying to optimize your company online, then you have found a great secret method. Thankfully PRLog has not allowed itself to be abused to much, so did not fall that much under Panda, Venice, and Penguin.

I love it, because for a local client, the NAP is showing (name, address, and phone), which creates a citation. For back links, you can insert at least one into the release itself, and then you have a website that is noted in the about section.

Saturday, July 14, 2012

I generally put all my PR, like this one I did on how to stop bicycle flats, on PRLog.org. I have found that the free releases are excellent for generating high rankings for my clients, and getting hits. You can spend 30-90 days and a bit or a lot of money creating a website, getting it all perfect, and launching it, only to find that you get a few visits per day and that your work has only just begun for ranking.

On the other hand you can create a PR article in 30 minutes, turn it loose and have 100 or more hits the first day. Commonly you will also find excellent ranking under the keywords you target in the headline, summary, and first paragraph.

Depending on the subject matter, you may find that the article does great for a while and then slows down, or it might just continue to produce for months or years. You can also promote your PR releases just like any other website by creating back links.

There are many other free PR services like PRLog.org, but my results have been outstanding there, where I've had so-so results on other sites. By the way, the PR release on how to stop bike flats at http://www.prlog.org/11918399-top-ten-ways-to-prevent-bicycle-tire-puncture-flats.html is a really good release if you are having a problem with flats on your bike.